


Paws and Claws

by abnels



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: DONT WORRY ABOUT THE DOG I LOVE DOGS TOO MUCH I WOULD NEVER KILL OFF THE DOG, Fluff, M/M, blood and reference to vet stuff, smut in later chapters, suga is a vet, uh a little bit of like mildly graphic stuff though imo its not bad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-05-21 07:52:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6043903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abnels/pseuds/abnels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A lovable stray enters Daichi's life one cold winter morning. Unfortunately, it meets the front bumper of his car before it meets him. Fortunately, that same lovable stray leads him to another lovable stray, in the form of Sugawara Koushi, a local vet. </p><p>If he can ever find a way to make up for his terrible first impression (he <i>hit a dog with his car</i>), he might just fall in love. </p><p>(in plain english: daichi hits a stray dog and rushes it to the first vet he can find. the vet happens to be suga, and daichi is absolutely fucked.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. strays

**Author's Note:**

> i didnt beta this. on that note, i need a beta. and on that note, please be my beta.
> 
> (apologies in advance for anyone with a medical/veterinary background reading this. i just used what i can remember from the atrocious amounts of vet er i watched on animal planet when i was a kid.)

Sawamura Daichi does not know how this has become his life.

 

He does not know what god he insulted to bring him to this moment, with blood on his hands and a whimpering dog in the backseat. He distinctly remembers visiting the shrine this past New Years, and he definitely says his thanks before every meal; but those things sure didn’t stop that dog from running out into the street in front of his car ten minutes ago.

 

He’s pretty sure one of its legs is broken, which explains why it tried to bite his hand off when he attempted to pick it up – tried isn’t the right word, actually, it definitely bit him. That’s where all the blood came from. He perservered, though, even though he’s pretty sure his hand is going to scar for his efforts.

 

He glances at his phone in his lap, relieved to see that he’s approaching the destination to the right. And there it is, he spots the sign out in front of a small building with its own little parking lot, “Paws-and-Claws Pet Clinic.” Daichi pulls into the lot and parks as close to the door as he can manage.

 

He feels a little bad, since he didn’t call ahead, but he was a little busy trying not to panic. Well, he did panic, but he allows himself that one because this is not how his day is supposed to be going. Not at all.

 

Daichi slips out of the car and moves towards the backseat. He opens the door slowly, crouching down, because he is pretty sure that’s what you do in order to seem non-threatening to animals.

 

“Hey, buddy, it’s okay. I’m gonna have to pick you up again, so please don’t bite me this time, okay?” He carefully inches his arms around the big black dog, already knowing that it’s going to yelp when he tries to move it. “I’m just gonna carry you in so the doctor can take care of you, okay?” Hopefully no one is watching him, he thinks, because he’s sure he looks ridiculous talking to an animal like it can understand him. Daichi lifts, and sure enough, the dog lets out a yip and growls, and he scrunches up his face and pretends that he isn’t afraid, which he totally is. Thankfully it doesn’t bite him this time, so he tucks it against his chest and kicks his car door shut.

 

A bell chimes, announcing his arrival when he shoulders open the door. The air inside is warm, unlike the frigid winter hell outside.

 

There’s movement from the receptionist’s desk. “Hello, how can I, oh wow, I’ll be right back.” A tall, brunette-haired boy who looks to be in his early twenties shoots up from his seat and hurries to the back room. Daichi stands there for a moment, shifting his weight back and forth on each foot – the dog might be a stray, but it’s not underweight, and it’s also no chihuahua. It isn’t like he is out of shape either, he works out regularly, but his biceps are still starting to get a little sore. The dog whimpers in his arms, and Daichi feels his stomach turn with guilt; here he is getting all worked up when he’s not the one with the broken leg.

 

“Sorry,” he tells the pup, for what feels like the hundredth time. What he wouldn’t give to have just been having a normal morning at work – something that he doesn’t wish for too often. The dog blinks up at him with a pair of doleful brown eyes, and he feels even guiltier.

 

Just when Daichi is about to start wondering what’s taking the person at the desk so long, the door to the back room flies open again. The brunette is now accompanied by what must be the most beautiful man Daichi has ever seen. Straight silver hair that frames his face, sparkling golden eyes, smooth skin, and oh my god is that a beauty mark? He definitely doesn’t almost drop the dog and he definitely isn’t staring. Not at all.

 

“Sir?” says the man he _isn’t_ staring at. Daichi snaps out of his not-daze. “Follow me, please.” The man turns on his heel and makes his way down a hallway. Daichi hurries to follow him, still being careful not to jostle the dog.

 

“What happened?” he asks, holding the third door on the right open for him. He slides through the doorway, moving towards the examination table, upon which the brunette is setting what looks to be a doggy-sized stretcher. “You can set him here.”

 

He does just that, gently laying the dog down on the table. He’s had such a secure hold on it up to this point that he didn’t even notice that it has started shaking. “I. He ran out in front of my car and I couldn’t stop in time. I hit him.” Daichi does his best to smother the guilt in his voice, which breaks embarrassingly halfway through his explanation. “I didn’t know what to do, I’m pretty sure one of his legs is messed up.”

 

The silver-haired man, _Dr. Sugawara_ , his nametag reads, lays a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, it happens. You brought him here and that’s the best thing you could have done for him.” The hand smacks his upper-arm, like a failed attempt at reassurance – failed mostly because _ow_ , reassurance isn’t supposed to hurt. “We’ll just take a look at his blood pressure and lungs, other technical stuff, but we might need your help moving him again, is that okay? It’s only Yamaguchi and I here today, since the weather is supposed to get bad this afternoon.”

 

Daichi nods dumbly, leaning back against the wall while Sugawara and Yamaguchi get to work on the dog. They’re moving around it with stethoscopes and shining a light in its eyes, and he’s totally blown away by how well the dog is handling it. It isn’t trying to bite them at all, and Daichi thinks about calling it out for playing favorites, but then, he _did_ hit it with his car, so he really can’t point blame. It glances at him again, and he just feels sorrier than ever.

 

Sugawara mumbles words to Yamaguchi in a soft tone while the brunette takes notes. Daichi tries to tune everything out asides from his voice and the scribbling of pen across paper.

 

About five minutes later, Sugawara looks up. “What’s his name?”

 

Daichi has no idea what the dog’s name is. This is probably the part where he should say “I don’t know, he’s a stray.” But a small voice in the back of his head wonders if the vet will treat the dog at all if he finds out that it’s a stray, and if this dog dies because of him, Daichi will never forgive himself. So he spits out the first thing that comes to mind when he looks at the dog with its dark fur. “Crow.”

 

“Awww, what a cute name for such a cute boy.” Sugawara scratches the dog – now Crow, apparently, god Daichi hates himself – behind one ear. “If my intuition is right, he has a broken leg. Depending on the break, it might require a simple, but kinda pricey surgery, or it might require a simple, but pricey cast. So I’ll need to take xrays of that limb to get a better look, and to make sure I’m not missing anything that could be going on there. I also want to take a couple shots to check out his lungs – it’s pretty common for ribs to break when animals get hit by cars. That’s the big picture at the moment. I guess we should go ahead and get started!”

 

The vet starts rummaging around in the drawer, pulling out a vial and a plasticky package, which he peels open to reveal a sterile needle.

 

“I’m going to give him something for the pain, and it’ll help him calm down, too. He’s a little shocky right now, and after we take some x-rays I’m going to get him started on some fluids.” He carefully measures out some of the medicine from the jar, and then taps the syringe, getting rid of all the air bubbles. “Get ready to hold him down, just in case.”

 

Daichi steps forward, his arms hovering in the air. Sugwara runs an alcohol swab over an area on the dog’s shoulder, pinches a bit of fur and skin, and pokes the needle into the bit that he’s holding. The dog lets out a sad little whine, but doesn’t try to move away. He pulls the syringe out and throws it into the hazardous waste basket while Yamaguchi presses a cotton swab down on the bead of blood that forms.

 

“Good boy,” Sugawara says in that soothing tone of his, scribbling something down on the dog’s file. “Okay, we’re going to move him to the other room for xrays, and I need your help with that. You and I will hold the stretcher and Yamaguchi will get the doors for us.” He moves to one end while Daichi moves to the other, hands on the little fabric handles at both ends. “Ready? One, two, three!”

 

They lift together and the dog lets out a huff of air, as if to say ‘fine, if you insist.’

Down the hall is the radiograph room, which is the hard part. Sugawara has to move the dog’s leg to get a clear shot. Daichi has to hold it down until it stops squirming and yelping (and his heart jumps with each pitiful noise), but between him and Yamaguchi they manage it.

 

They take a few x-rays, which is weird for Daichi to watch because they have to strap Crow in one place to keep him from messing up the pictures by squirming around again. They take a few minutes to develop them, and then the two professionals discuss the damage – a broken leg and some bruised and cracked ribs. After they sort out what they’re going to do (he guesses, he has no idea what half the words they use actually mean), he and Sugawara carry the dog to a third, final room. It has a bunch of equipment in it, and Daichi assumes it’s the surgical area.

 

Sugawara dusts his hands off and sighs. “Alright. Well, we’re going to prep in here and get right down to business. You’re welcome to sit in the waiting room, if you’d like, or else leave contact information? It will take a little time, and I understand you have a day to get to.”

 

The thought of trying to work with his brain in such an unsettled state just about gives him a headache.

“That’s okay, I’ll just wait.” The vet smiles at him, and Daichi shows himself out. He pauses at the door when the dog gives him a whimper, dazedly lifting its head to look at him over its shoulder. “Have a good nap, buddy.”

 

Time seems to slow as he melts into the blue chair in the waiting room. He sends a quick e-mail to his boss, explaining what happened and does his best to ignore the throb of his hand.

 

He tries not to think about those thin fingers, tries not to think about that smile, but it all comes back to him unbidden. _Sugawara_. He wonders what his hair smells like, he wonders what music he likes; he wonders and he wants to smack himself across the face for it. He has been single for way, way too long. Daichi hasn’t dated since early on in college, out among his friends, but not his family. He doesn’t even know if the vet likes guys.

 

Daichi groans. This is going to become a _thing_ , just like with Ikejiri, where he pines and gets hurt. And he’s stupid, absolutely stupid for even wasting time thinking about it. He can’t get ahead of himself. Not again.

 

He browses around the web, looking, but not really seeing anything that moves before his eyes. A poster on the wall catches his eye when he looks up to check the clock after about an hour. _“It’s pawful your_ _pet got hurt. Good thing we’re here to help!”_ Oh no. Does Sugawara like _puns_?!

 

Daichi goes back to scrolling through apps on his phone, and thinks he must be cursed to suffer for the rest of eternity.

 

Or, he thinks that until Sugawara bustles out of the back room, wearing a different set of scrubs than before - these ones are light blue with different colored pawprints all over them. Daichi stands up, his concern over the dog getting the better of him.

 

“It went well!” Sugawara says, his tone light and cheerful. “We set the break, which turned out to not be too bad, all things considered. He’ll have a pretty bulky cast until we can take the stitches out, and he can’t be up and about for the time being. We’ll give you meds to give him, which will help with the pain and also probably make him pretty drowsy, so I wouldn’t worry about keeping him off his feet just yet! He should be good to go home tomorrow!” Daichi feels his palms sweat. Here it comes, the moment of truth.

 

He brings his face up into a nervous smile, and Sugawara looks at him expectantly. “O…Okay… That’s. Great.”

 

What follows is a full two minutes of silence in which Daichi simultaneously wishes he would phase through the floor and that he would spontaneously combust. Sugawara is giving him this _look_ , a stupid, calculating one; and he basically feels the feeble half-truths crumble around him under the weight of those golden eyes that apparently don’t miss a thing.

 

“Crow… isn’t yours, huh.” The vet says it like a statement, almost like an accusation, and Daichi feels himself flinch. He never was a good liar.

 

“Well, no, but… he’s a stray, right? And I hit him, so I feel responsible…”

 

Sugawara looks pitying, frowning over at Daichi the way he is.

 

“I’ll pay,” he says, and it’s so quiet, he says it again, stronger. “I’ll pay. It’s my fault he got like this, and he seems like a sweet dog.” It’s an impulse, stupid and he knows it, but that _pity_ is what finally breaks him.

 

Sugawara’s grin is instantaneous, and blinding. “I had a feeling you would! I had a really good feeling about you, you know?” Daichi ducks his head to hide how pleased he is to hear the praise. “…even though you hit a dog with your car.” His head snaps back up to see a stern expression on the silver-haired man’s face, although there’s a mischievous sparkle to his eyes. Whatever he was going to say to defend himself dies on his tongue, and he smiles sheepishly.

 

“Yeah, I guess I sort of messed up with that one, didn’t I?”

 

“Yes! But you made up for it already.” The guy _winks_ at him and Daichi can practically feel Cupid’s arrow strike his heart. “I guess… are you sure you can take care of him? Your intentions might be noble, but a dog is a big responsibility. It’s okay to say no. There are plenty of shelters around that would take him in.”

 

The brunette swallows thickly. “Listen, Sugawara-san-“

 

“Suga.”

 

“What?”

 

“Please, call me Suga.”

 

“Suga, then. I don’t really know what I’m doing. I haven’t had a dog since I was like five, and then I fucked up already with this one, and.”

 

“Hey, it’s okay!” Suga’s hand is on his shoulder again and Daichi can feel the warmth even through his shirt. “If you can’t handle it, I can take him over to the adoption center tomorrow. You’ve already done so much for him, no one would fault you if you decided that’s what you want to do.”

 

It’s tempting. So tempting that Daichi almost says yes, but he remembers those puppy eyes Crow gave him, and he already knows he’s attached, both to the shaggy dog and to Suga. Nevermind the fact that if he keeps Crow, he’ll get to see Suga again. _You’re hopeless, Sawamura_ , he thinks, even as the hope fills his limbs and seems to warm him from the inside out. And maybe this is what he needs, maybe a wagging tail greeting him when he gets home will ease the ache of loneliness in his heart. It’s worked for other people, why can’t it help him, too?

 

“No. I’m going to try. I know what happens to dogs that don’t get adopted, and I’m already putting him at a disadvantage since he’s got a broken leg and an expensive future. I can’t do that to him.”

 

“Like I said, I knew I had a good feeling about you!”

 

“That makes one of us,” Daichi jokes, internally screaming at himself, _pull it together Sawamura don’t make a fool of yourself!_ The hand on his shoulder turns into a vicelike grip that makes him grimace.

 

“Hey, take it easy, you’re going to give yourself wrinkles.” Suga smirks at him. Daichi lifts a hand to rub at the back of his neck, forgetting that it’s the one that got bit, and he lets out a hiss of surprise at the pain.

 

“Shit,” he mumbles, cradling it in his other hand. Suga’s long pale fingers are on his in a flash.

 

“Wow, that looks bad! Did you get bit?”

 

“Yeah, he didn’t like it when I tried to move him to my car.” There are a couple shallow puncture wounds, and it feels bruised and swollen. “I didn’t think he got me that bad, but, that was probably because I was panicking.”

 

“Do you want me to take a look?” Suga is too close to him, much too close, and Daichi’s brain stalls for a second when he smells something minty, and rosey. Shampoo?

 

“You don’t have to do that,” he manages, trying not to give the impression that he’s a goddamn wimp. “Really, I’ll be- ow!”

 

“I barely touched you!” Suga says after giving his hand a faint squeeze. “Let me just patch you up, um- actually, I was going to say your name there but I just realized, you haven’t told me!” He looks scandalized.

 

“Oh, wow, I didn’t, did I?” Daichi gives him one of those easy smiles he uses on angry customers. It seems to work, Suga gives him a look that is ten percent more forgiving and one-hundred percent cuter. “Sawamura Daichi. Daichi is just fine.”

 

“Well, Daichi. You aren’t leaving until I’ve had a look at that hand.” He wraps one of his own hands around Daichi’s uninjured wrist and pulls him forward, dragging him towards the back room.

 

Daichi takes a chance. “You never told me your name, you know. I mean, I read your nametag, but…” It’s just an innocent inquiry, nevermind how badly he wants to know the answer.

 

Suga pushes him into a chair and raises an eyebrow at him. “Oh, you think you come into the back room of my clinic and suddenly you have rights to know my first name? Is that how this works, Daichi?”

 

He swallows down the lump in his throat because _oh my god, he’s totally not interested, you blew it, Sawamura_. His heart sinks like a stone and he moves to rub the back of his neck again before he thinks better of it. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude by that, I just thought- why are you laughing at me?”

 

Suga is _giggling_ at him from behind a hand, and it only makes Daichi feel worse, because not only is this a huge let down, but now this unfairly beautiful and unfairly uninterested man is _laughing_ at him for it.

 

“You should – see your – see your face, oh my god,” Suga wheezes, wiping away a tear. “You really are going to get wrinkles if you keep walking around with that stick up your ass.” Daichi flushes in embarrassment. He straightens up and is kind enough not to point out the fact that the man sitting in front of him is red in the face. “I’m sorry, I was just teasing you. My name is Sugawara Koushi, and I’d shake your hand, but I don’t think you’d thank me for it.”

 

This man is going to kill him. Absolutely, without a doubt, kill him. Is he misreading this, or is Suga flirting with him?

 

_Slow down, Sawamura. One step at a time, alright?_

 

“You’re a sadist, aren’t you?” he finally manages.

 

“Oh yes, I thrive off of the suffering of others. Why else would I have become a veterinarian?”

 

Daichi laughs, real and deep as he takes in the other’s proud stance. “Jesus, Suga, be careful, or else someday someone is going to take you seriously.”

 

“We couldn’t have that, now could we, Daichi?” Daichi grins up Suga, who turns and heads over to a drawer underneath one of the cabinets lining the nearby wall. His name, on _those lips_ , he thinks, and then he thinks that this would be a really embarrassing time to get a boner, and immediately reminds himself about how he hit a dog with his car today, because nothing could kill a boner faster than that.

 

Other things that kill boners: disinfecting cuts.

 

Daichi bites the inside of his cheek, but that doesn’t keep him from wincing like a big baby.

 

“Can’t you do that in a way that doesn’t make me want to chop my hand off?” he says through clenched teeth.

 

“Unfortunately, no, I’m not god, so I don’t have any magical healing powers. I’m almost done disinfecting it, so just hang on for another few seconds, ‘kay?” Daichi bites back a comment about angels.

 

Suga finishes with whatever sharp-scented stuff is supposedly ‘cleaning’ (Daichi isn’t convinced) out his bite marks. He pokes around a bit, which _hurts_ , god damn it, and then nods once.

 

“Okay, so I’m a vet and this is based on my knowledge of animals, not humans, but I don’t think you need stitches. It looks like it was just a warning bite.”

 

Five minutes later and Daichi’s hand looks like it belongs to a mummy, but hey, it’s not bleeding all over the place anymore, so he’ll take it.

 

“Are you sure you don’t want to sign it?” he jokes as Sugawara leads him out of the back room. Suga flicks him on the nose and holds the door open for him.

 

“I’m sure. And, about payment. I realize that you probably weren’t expecting an expense like this so… How about I make you a deal? We’ll split it over the next couple of months so you don’t have to pay for it all at once.” Daichi is about to argue, but Suga holds up a hand. “Really, what you did was. Really noble. And I see situations like this all the time, that have a lot messier endings. I just want to make it as easy as possible on you, don’t take it as pity. I just want to help!” Sugawara smiles over at him and Daichi has to resist laying down on the floor right then and there to recover from it.

 

“Suga, you’re. You’re really something else, you know?” he says, and is pleased to see a hint of pink grace the pale skin of the other man’s cheeks.

 

“I know!” Suga laughs, a light sound. “Oh, and since you picked him up off the street, I’m going to run a couple extra tests to check for worms and mange, things like that. Plus he needs his shots! I’m throwing these ones in for free, though. And don’t try to argue with me on it, because I’m not going to budge. You’re already doing a lot for this guy.”

 

Daichi folds his arms over his chest. “You’re impossible.”

 

“That I am!” He plucks a few pamphlets off the reception desk and presses them into Daichi’s good hand. “Here are a couple first-time-pet-owner brochures. Study up! There’s a test tomorrow.”

 

 _Tomorrow_ , Daichi remembers. He gets to see Suga again tomorrow, when he comes back to pick up Crow.

 

“Do I get a word bank?” he asks, putting his coat back on.

 

“That depends on your behavior. Be safe getting home!”

 

“I will,” he promises. Daichi pushes the door open and shivers at the cold gust of air that greets him. “See you tomorrow!”

 

“Tomorrow,” says Suga with one last smile. Daichi lets the door shut and exhales heavily.

 

He’s a goner.

 

 


	2. one more time with feeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much to [kurokn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurokn) for editing this chapter for me!! <3 please check out their works if you have time!!! delaney writes damn good stuff. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> [again, the vet stuff in this fic is not necessarily accurate. i do my best but sorry for any inaccuracies~]

The next day Daichi shows up at the Paws-and-Claws Pet Clinic feeling distinctly awkward. After leaving the night before, he had googled the nearest pet store and promptly spent an unjustifiable amount of money on pet supplies. He even called in sick to work, something that he hadn’t done in ages. It took several trips to get everything from his car to his apartment, and he spent an hour unpackaging and arranging everything. There was a dog bed in the corner of his living room and a second in his bedroom, several squeaky toys (including a squirrel, a duck, and a black and white football), three dog bones, matching food and water bowls, a box of dog treats, and much more (not that he’d ever admit it).

 

His landlord really might kill him – dogs _are_ allowed in his apartment complex, but the look on her face when he informs her that he got a dog short notice plainly tells him that he’d better be careful.

 

Daichi pushes the door open to the clinic with his face buried in a scarf, his hat pulled down low over his ears. The weather yesterday had been right – the ice and snow on the roads from the previous evenings snowstorm had made getting here nearly impossible. But he’d made it, and spies Yamaguchi behind the front desk.

 

Yamaguchi smiles at Daichi when he recognizes him (which isn’t until after he takes the hat and scarf off) and hops out of his chair to go to the back room.

 

Daichi, for his part, stuffs his ungloved hands into his coat pockets, fingers running over the material of the orange collar, smooth to the touch.

 

The door to the back swings open as it did the day before, and Daichi can’t suppress his sigh. He had hoped that maybe the adrenaline had made him lose his mind and exaggerate Suga’s beauty – unfortunately (or was it fortunately?) that didn’t seem to be the case. The veterinarian is as beautiful as ever, all smiles and glowing complexion, the corner of his eyes creasing as he calls a hello to Daichi.

 

“How’s the hand doing?” he asks cheerfully, his own hands in the pockets of his teal paw print scrubs. Daichi hates how cute they are. It is not helping him keep his head on straight.

 

He waves it, grimacing a bit. “Still attached!”

 

“Oh, very impressive, Daichi.” Suga smirks at him and Daichi tries not to scream about the fact that Suga remembered his name. “Well, someone has been waiting to see you.”

 

For a second Daichi thinks maybe Suga is referring to himself, but he’s quick to stop that train of thought before it gets too far ahead of him. Crow. His dog, now, his dog is who Suga was talking about.

 

He slips through the door to the back that Sugawara is holding open for him, and idly wonders if they let everyone back here. He’s interrupted by a low “boof” of a bark obviously directed at him from one of the cages lining the wall at the end of the room.

 

Daichi laughs, immediately crossing the room to where a sleepy black dog is thumping its tail against the metal wall. A cat meows from nearby as he sticks his fingers through the bars of the cage. Crow doesn’t lift his head to sniff at Daichi’s hand as he expected, but instead looks up at him with a dulled expression.

 

“The painkillers sorta do a number on them, and he’s still pretty tired from the big day yesterday. Don’t worry. Pretty soon he’ll be more than a handful, just you watch.”

 

Daichi looks up at Suga with relief clear in his eyes. Crow looks pitiful in his cage, his leg wrapped up tight in a firm cast, some mucus collecting in the corners of his eyes.

 

“How long until he gets better?”

 

“Oh, likely a month, give or take a few days. We should actually set up an appointment for that on your way out of here… He probably isn’t up for walking right now. So, I can help you get him to the car, and you can borrow a pet carrier if you’d like?”

 

Daichi nods. “You’re too nice to me.” He means it, too; he doesn’t feel like he deserves any sort of kindness or favors from the fair-haired beauty standing next to him. But Suga punches him on the shoulder at that comment, and it hits harder than Daichi anticipates.

 

“Don’t be ridiculous! I am the perfect amount of nice!”

 

“I beg to differ,” Daichi replies, rubbing his arm with a pained expression. “Keep it up with that right hook and you’re going to be patching me up all over again.”

 

Suga makes an indignant noise. “Not if you keep acting like I’m mean!”

 

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” Daichi rushes to say as Suga makes a move to hit him again. “You’re the nicest man I’ve ever met and I’m lucky to have been graced with your presence.”

 

“You’re damn right, you have been.”

 

Daichi finds himself laughing quietly, and his cheeks warm. Suga seems to be glowing from where he stands, and he finds himself staring at those light pink lips, the way his hair tickles the apples of his cheeks when it slips out from behind his ears.

 

Suga squats down (which gives Daichi just enough time to collect himself and force his face into a neutral expression) and undoes the latch on Crow’s cage.

 

“You can pet him for a minute while I go grab the carrier. Just be very gentle and quiet, since you’re still new to each other.”

 

“Yeah. Thanks.”

 

Suga bustles off, his stethoscope flashing silver in the fluorescent lights above, and Daichi drops down to sit on his haunches, feeling a little overwhelmed. It feels like a dream, to be in the other man’s presence, and he isn’t quite sure how to feel about it. His fingers settle in the soft hairs behind Crow’s ear, and he sighs – only to do so in unison with the dog. He chuckles quietly.

 

“Just how did we end up in a situation like this, bud?”

 

Crow huffs at him, and Daichi laughs again.

 

“Are you two done kissing and making up?” Suga calls to him from behind.

 

Daichi throws him a dirty look over his shoulder. “You have interrupted a very important bonding moment, I’ll have you know.”

 

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, sir, would you like to speak with a manager?”

 

“I think I would like that very much.”

 

“Ah. Unfortunately he’s out today. Can I take a message for him?” Suga smirks down at Daichi, whose hand is still running gentle circles into Crow’s fluffy fur, and his eyes twinkle with mischief.

 

“Tell him that his employee, Sugawara-san, has been behaving entirely unacceptably, and I expect him to be reprimanded in the future.”

 

“I’ll be sure he gets that message, sir.”

 

Suga bows dramatically, just as Yamaguchi enters the room with the pet-carrier in his arms.

 

“I brought the one you asked for, Suga-san,” he calls in a gentle, somewhat timid voice.

 

“Oh! Thank you Yamaguchi, that was really fast!”

 

“No problem,” says Yamaguchi with a tiny smile.

 

“Are you also a vet, Yamaguchi-san?” Daichi asks him politely.

 

“Oh, no! I’m, actually I’m just an intern. I’m still in university so, I’m here to get more experience, and…” He sets down the crate and runs a hand through his shaggy brown hair, obviously a little nervous. “Suga-san was kind enough to offer me a position.”

 

“Yamaguchi, you’re being modest.” Suga raises an eyebrow at him, and turns to shoot Daichi a conspiratorial glance, his golden brown eyes sparkling. “He’s top of his class at the University downtown, but he acts like I’m the one doing _him_ the favor, giving him this job… I swear, as soon as he has his degree I’m hiring him full-time.”

 

Yamaguchi blushes scarlet and starts stammering, to which Suga lets out a lovely peal of laughter. Daichi bemusedly grins at the pair, vaguely reminded of a mother teasing her kid.

 

“I’m impressed, Yamaguchi-san. Now I can be certain that Crow is in good hands.”

 

Suga scowls over at Daichi, and it’s obvious that he didn’t miss that jab. “Going for a third punch, I see, Daichi?”

 

He practically scrambles to his feet, getting out of Suga’s range as fast as he can manage. Crow thumps his tail against the crate, as if to laugh at him. “Hey, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, I never said-”

 

“Yes?” prompts Suga, but the pair is interrupted with a muffled laugh, and suddenly Daichi is hyper-aware that Yamaguchi is still in the room.

 

“Suga-san, you’re going to scare away the customers.”  


“Yamaguchi!” Suga says, looking scandalized, but soon his playful smile slips right back into its rightful place on his lips. “Speaking of scaring off customers, I haven’t seen-”

  
Yamaguchi whines pathetically at his boss, and the sound drowns out whatever teasing Daichi might have otherwise overheard as the brunette hightails it back to the front.

 

“He’s so modest,” Suga says with a smile. Daichi is beginning to think that Suga does pretty much everything with a smile. The thought makes some strange emotion curl in his stomach, warming him from the inside. “So, let’s get Crow moved over, yeah?”

 

Daichi nods and steps aside for Suga to open the door to Crow’s recovery cage while Daichi opens the door to the new one.

 

“Are you sure we’ll be able to get him to my car?”

 

“Oh, if we both take an end, we’ll be just fine.” Crow’s tail thumps against the wall of the cage while Suga runs gentle fingers through his fur. Daichi thinks he just might die at the sight of it. “Okay buddy, you ready to go home? I’m gonna have to move you now, but don’t worry.” He jerks a thumb over his shoulder. “Have you seen those arms? He’s not gonna drop you.”

 

Daichi’s face warms horribly and he grimaces. “You’re shameless.”

 

“ _I’m_ building trust between dog and owner, is what I’m doing,” Suga corrects. He slides careful arms around the dog’s torso, and gently tugs, drawing the dog into his arms. Daichi would like to say, ‘ _Have you seen_ those _arms?’_ but he thinks it would be a little too cheesy. He’d like to keep the embarrassment to a minimum, if at all possible.

 

“He’s going to be pretty groggy for a couple of days, the anesthesia takes a little time to work out of their systems.” Daichi helps Suga move Crow into the crate, biting his lip when their hands touch over the warm fur. “You’ll need to give him painkillers for a little while, I’ll get them to you from the front desk before you leave. Just wrap them in a little cheese or some deli meat and give it to him; they usually don’t even notice it’s there. Try to give it to him around meals, though, to keep him from having an upset stomach. And he’ll need plenty of water. It won’t be easy for him to go to the bathroom on his own at first, so you might have to help him stay upright in the yard just a little bit.”

 

Suga is talking about a mile a minute and Daichi is lost in the furrow of his silver brow, and in the sound of his silky voice washing over his mind like a gentle wave. He looks up and catches Daichi’s blank expression, and laughs to himself when Daichi realizes that he’s been spacing out.

 

“Don’t worry, Daichi, it’s all written down in an aftercare packet that I’ll be giving you along with the medication. Sorry, I tend to ramble.” He shuts the door to the crate with a snap of the lock and tucks hair behind his ear.

 

“No, no, it’s okay! It’s… a little much, yeah, but you’re passionate about your job. That’s… Cool, Suga. Don’t apologize for that.” Daichi lets himself grin, even though he’s worried about being so forward about how impressive he finds the other.

 

“Oh!” Suga covers his mouth with his hand for a moment, and Daichi fights the crazy urge to pull it away so that he can see the smile that it’s concealing. “Well, I’ll try not to apologize for it in the future then.”

 

Daichi nods and feels his heart flutter at the future part. “I’ll take this side,” he says, gesturing to the side of the cage with the door. Crow is already asleep again, his eyelids fluttering with a dream. Suga moves to the other end and they lift the cage as one. It’s not terribly heavy, and between the two of them they manage it just fine. Suga bumps the swinging door open with his hip and backs them to the front of the office. Yamaguchi moves to the entrance to hold the door open for them.

 

“The blue one?” Suga asks, looking over his shoulder at the four-door crossover sitting in the otherwise empty parking lot. He shivers in the lingering cold from yesterday’s snowstorm.

 

“The blue one,” Daichi replies, nodding towards it. “Oh, I should get the trunk opened. It’s okay for him to ride back there in the crate, right?”

 

“It shouldn’t be a problem.”

 

They slow for a moment and Daichi adjusts his end of the cage to balance it in one hand while he digs in his pocket for his keys. He presses the button and the trunk door lifts into the air. He shoves the keys back into his pocket and rearranges his hold on the cage, nodding to a distracted-looking Suga, who straightens up at once and guides his end of the cage into the car.

 

Daichi shuts the door with Crow still sound asleep in the back.

 

Suga talks while he walks back inside, rubbing his arms as he goes. Daichi hangs onto every syllable. “Let’s hurry and grab his medicine and the packet I mentioned. I’m sure you’ve looked through those handouts I gave you the other day, so you may already know this, but you should never leave your dog alone in the car for extended periods of time. It’s extremely easy for them to get too hot or too cold in such a small space like that, especially with the poor ventilation. It should be common sense,” Suga waves his hand in the air as Daichi shuts the door to the office behind them, “I mean you wouldn’t leave your kid in the car like that, for the same reasons… it’s sort of a no-brainer, but we do see them in here occasionally…” Yamaguchi is giving Suga a _look_ from behind the desk and Suga makes a tiny jump in place like he’s been shocked. “I’m rambling again. Sorry.”

 

“Hey, what did I tell you about saying sorry for that? It’s fine. You’re the expert, after all.” Daichi grins and accepts the small paper bag that rattles – that must be the pills – and a packet of papers stapled together, with little diagrams and a fancy border on each page. Suga also hands him something he recognizes as the Cone of Shame.

 

“Just in case,” he says with a soft smile. “If Crow starts licking at his stitches, he needs to wear it. He’ll be annoyed, but he’ll get used to it in no time.”

 

“When would you like to come back?” Yamaguchi asks. “We usually recommend you come back for a follow-up in about two weeks, but some people prefer to come back earlier.”

 

“Let’s go with two weeks.”

 

“That’ll be a Thursday, and we have an opening at 11, 1:30, and 4.”

 

“Can we do 4? I can work a half-day and then swing by afterwards.”

 

“Sure! I’ll put you down for then. Is the number you want us to notify you through the same as your contact information?” Yamaguchi is clicking away at the computer with no idea that Suga is watching him with a fond smile. Daichi settles for watching Suga watch Yamaguchi while they work out the details.

 

“Yes, same number.”

 

“Okay! I’ll just-“ As Yamaguchi reaches for an appointment card, Suga beats him to the tin, plucking one out of the container.

 

“I’ve got this one,” he says, and Yamaguchi watches him with an unreadable expression. Suga pulls a pen out of his pocket and starts jotting away.

 

Daichi stage whispers to Yamaguchi with a smirk, “Are you sure I’m going to be able to read that? I’ve heard doctors don’t have good handwriting…”

 

Yamaguchi snorts, and Suga makes an offended sound. “My handwriting is _just fine_ , thank you very much! And, I’m a vet, not a _people doctor_. We’re a different species.” His voice is dripping with pettiness, lilting and smooth, music to Daichi’s ears. He thrusts the card out for Daichi to take, and Daichi does so with a laugh, squinting at it.

 

“Alright, I’ll admit. It’s above average. I take it back.”

 

“About payment,” Yamaguchi interrupts, sounding a little nervous. “When would you like to start?”

 

“This month is fine.” Daichi might hate his job, but he knows he can afford it on this current salary.

 

“Are you okay with being billed electronically?”

 

“That’s fine.”

 

“He’s being so serious,” Suga says conspiratorially, as if he and Daichi are the only ones in the room.

 

“A real professional, unlike some of the other employees I’ve seen running around this place...” Suga jabs him in the side with an elbow and Yamaguchi laughs. “Alright, I’ll be going now. I’ll see you in two weeks?”

 

Suga nods and shoos Daichi towards the door. Daichi waves goodbye shyly, and hurries towards the door before he can make a fool out of himself.

 

= = =

 

Sawamura Daichi is quickly learning that owning a dog, especially a dog that has recently undergone surgery, is not a piece of cake.

 

The first day home goes well, with Daichi mostly hanging out on the couch, idly watching TV with Crow napping at his side. Every couple of hours he nudges the warm lump at his side awake, scoops him into his arms, and makes his way out of his apartment, down the stairs, and to the park adjacent to the complex. He has to hold Crow up to keep him from flopping onto the ground when he’s peeing, and the cold is an absolute bitch, but he manages to find some humor in the somewhat pathetic situation.

 

Since he doesn’t know Crow’s history, he takes the dog out in the middle of the night – if he doesn’t know better, Crow might pee in his crate. Daichi has never potty-trained a dog before, but the pamphlets and Google have given him a vague strategy to follow: 1. Stick to a schedule. 2. Bathroom fifteen minutes after eating. 3. Never trust a sniffing nose.

 

They survive the first day with no accidents.

 

The second day dawns with an early breakfast, pills, and a slightly perkier Crow hobbling from room to room after Daichi while he gets ready for work. He greets a grumpy face at his door – neighbor Tsukishima Kei, temporary dog-sitter, college student, and reliable source of attitude. Tsukishima toes off his shoes and makes a beeline for the couch, with Daichi watching him from the entryway with an amused smile. He tells his neighbor that instructions are on the kitchen table, with the number of the vet along with Daichi’s number (he’s fairly certain that he’s given it to Tsukishima before, but he’s considerably less certain that Tsukishima actually saved it to his phone). He pulls on his coat and heads off to work, where he finds a pile of work to go through from his two missed days, and he quietly thanks god that it’s a Friday.

 

Daichi gets home at six in the evening, relieving Tsukishima from his duties for the weekend, and feeds Crow dinner while shoving some leftovers from last night’s dinner into the microwave. They both finish eating, and Daichi folds more medicine into a slice of cheese, which Crow gobbles down greedily. They make a trip outside, and Daichi finds the appointment card that Suga had given him the day before while Crow does his business. He flips it over in his hand and does a double take. On the back of the card, in neat kanji, he reads _Sugawara Koushi_ along with a phone number. His heart beats in his throat. Is this Suga’s personal phone number? Is it standard procedure for vets to hand out their phone numbers to new patients? Crow’s nose bumps his leg and Daichi stuffs the card back into his pocket, feeling warm for entirely different reasons than just his winter gear.

 

Daichi carries Crow upstairs again, settles the dog on his bed in his crate, and sticks the appointment card up on his fridge with a magnet he made back in elementary school. He hops in the shower, where he gets himself off while very pointedly _not_ thinking about silver hair and golden eyes.

 

The phone number lingers in his mind while he falls asleep that night.

 

= = =

 

It takes about a week for Daichi to realize that he is in way over his head. On Monday, he makes his first mistake, and floats Crow a little freedom while he takes a shower. When he gets out, he is startled to find foam stuffing all over the living room and one very happy puppy chewing on a very-thoroughly-destroyed throw pillow. On the way into the kitchen to grab a trash bag to clean up the mess, he slips in a wet puddle and finds himself flat on his back in the middle of the room and in need of another shower.

 

The next day is arguably worse. He gets a call in the middle of his lunch break from Tsukishima, who informs him that Crow has thrown up on the living room carpet. Daichi groans and drags a hand down his face when Tsukishima refuses to clean it up for him, claiming it “wasn’t in the job description.” The evening ends with Daichi trying not to gag as he scoops hours-old dog vomit into a trash bag, Crow looking on with a wagging tail from his bed in the crate, the Cone of Shame framing his bright-eyed face.

 

It isn’t until that Friday, when Daichi finds himself laying on the floor in another puddle of pee, that he fishes his phone out of his pocket and scrolls to a name he’s been trying not to think about for the past week. He hits the dial button, praying simultaneously for an answer and no answer.

 

“Hello?” says a soft voice on the other end of the line after a couple of rings.

 

“Um.. Is this… Sugawara Koushi?” Daichi asks tentatively.

 

“Yes, can I ask who’s calling?”

 

Daichi heaves a sigh of relief. “It’s Daichi. Sawamura Daichi, again, and. I’m laying in a puddle of pee in the middle of the floor for the second time this week, and I think. No, I _know_ I need help.”

 

The sound of a poorly concealed laugh flutters through his phone’s speaker. “The second time?”

 

“I trust too easily, Suga. Much too easily.”

 

“I can tell. Well, I have a day off tomorrow. How about I come over and give you a hand?”

 

Daichi just about has an aneurism. Suga? At his house? Sitting on his couch? At his dinner table? Stretched out on his bed, his eyes blown wide and- Daichi shakes his head.

 

“I would really, _really_ appreciate that. But I feel like it’s asking a lot, and I would feel bad,” Daichi groans, covering his eyes with his free hand. “I could pay you?”

 

“I don’t want or need your money, Daichi. I’m more than happy to help you out. I have a soft spot for charity cases, you know!”

 

“ _Ha, ha,_ ” Daichi replies, tone dripping with sarcasm. “How about I make you dinner and we’ll call it even?”

 

“Deal!”

 

“Deal.”

 

Daichi gives Suga his address and they pick a time and say their goodbyes.

 

And that night, Daichi lays in a puddle of dog pee in the middle of his kitchen floor for the second time that week, and pumps his fist in the air, letting out a cry of victory. He has a not-date with Suga tomorrow. _He has a not-date with Suga tomorrow._

 

Crow’s tail thumps against the side of his crate.

 

“Good boy,” Daichi tells him, and means it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a wild update appears! seriously though, this semester killed me. it's summer now so maybe (?) i'll update things with some sort of regularity... for anyone who is wondering, [this](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_D6ZIP01xiZo/THaLyDdFplI/AAAAAAAACIA/1Lc3398jXao/image_thumb%5B3%5D.png?imgmax=800) is how i imagine crow to look like. fluffy!! : )
> 
> if you have any questions, or on the absolutely unlikely chance that you make something for this fic, please hit me up at my main blog, [abnels](https://abnels.tumblr.com) or on my writing blog, [sugawarakoushl](https://sugawarakoushl.tumblr.com). thank you for reading!! <33


	3. stepping in it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i didn't beta this one (yet) because i'm a little too excited to update atm... if you notice any mistakes, feel free to (kindly/gently) point them out in the comments! I also might have been training a puppy when I wrote the first half, don't mind me and my projecting onto my characters... 
> 
> hope you enjoy!!! //naruto runs away

 

“Hi,” Suga says as he steps through Daichi’s apartment door the next day, a bag in his hand. He’s _cute_ , Daichi thinks. Suga is scrub-free – instead he’s wearing a pair of straight-legged, light-colored khakis (the ones that hug his hips and make his ass look _great_ ) and a wide-striped sweater, navy and white, underneath his heavy winter coat, which he hangs by the door. “Pardon the intrusion~!” he singsongs to the rest of the house, taking his shoes off and sliding them into the house slippers Daichi gestures to.

 

“No one else lives here, Suga,” Daichi tells him, laughing. Suga’s heart does a tiny little _swoop_ in his chest.

 

“Crow isn’t no one, Daichi,” Suga corrects, grinning over Daichi’s shoulder towards where Crow is standing in his cage, cone of shame and all, his tail thumping back and forth against the metal. “Who’s a good boy?!”

 

Crow _woofs_ and noses the cage door.

 

“That’s right! You are! Aaaahhh, Daichi, he’s just so cute!” _You’re just so cute,_ Suga thinks, and shakes his head.

 

“He’d be a lot cuter if he would stop peeing in the house.”

 

“Probably.”

 

“What’s in the bag?” Daichi asks.

 

“Eh, I brought some stuff just in case we needed it to help with training. I wasn’t sure whether or not you were prepared.” He sneaks a look around the room, which is littered with dog toys. His mouth quirks up into a smirk. “I see I shouldn’t have worried.”

 

“I went a little overboard, I know. But what if he didn’t like squeaky toys? Or what if he _only_ liked squeaky toys?” Daichi gestures animatedly and Suga sets the bag down by the door and walks further into the apartment, allowing his eyes to wander. The entryway opens to a living room, complete with a couch, widescreen TV, and a recliner. There’s also a tall black bookshelf, but it’s mostly empty, save for one shelf full of what, at a glance, resemble textbooks. To the right, there’s a hallway, which he assumes leads to the bedroom(s?). On their left, the living room opens into a small kitchen and accompanying dining area. The whole apartment is painted a warm grey, and the furniture follows a white and blue nautical theme.

 

“That would have been a _tragedy_. Thank god you bought one of each kind.” Suga catches his eye, and notices Daichi’s flush. “…you actually did buy one of each kind of toy, didn’t you.”

 

“I didn’t know what to get!” Daichi runs a hand through his hair, embarrassed. Suga bursts into laughter. “So I just. Spent a disgusting amount of money on dog toys in an apparent loss of sanity. Please don’t judge me, Suga.”

 

“It’s a bit too late for that, Daichi, you really are giving me a lot to work with.” He points to a set of frames on an end table beside the couch. “Who do we have here?”

 

Daichi picks up the frame, glances at it, and hands it to Suga. “My younger sister and brother. They’re twins, absolute monsters growing up.”

 

Suga smoothes a hand across the glass, looking down at two people with their arms linked, a taller Daichi standing behind them with his arms draped over their shoulders while he leans in. All three have the same brown hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin, although the younger siblings have a wash of freckles over the bridges of their noses, and slightly different smiles than the oldest. The photo makes it look like Daichi is protecting the pair, guarding over them. His heart throbs almost painfully. “You all look so much alike,” he says before the silence drags on too long.

 

“It’s almost like we’re related or something.” Daichi smirks as Suga hands the frame back.

 

“Don’t be rude to me, Sawamura Daichi!”

 

“Oh, come on, Suga. I mean, they’re _twins_ , for crying out loud!”

 

“That doesn’t count, Daichi. Some twins can look extremely different! I mean, consider the variations you see within litters of cats! The odds for all three of you to have resembled each other are incredibly long, I’ll have you know.”

 

“Are you comparing my little brother and sister to kittens, Suga?” Daichi smiles with amusement.

 

“I’m explaining this in layman’s terms. I studied more biology than I care to remember, but so help me, Daichi, I will drown you in several years’ worth of vocab words if it comes down to it.”

 

“Alright, alright, I get it, Sugawara-sama. I humbly apologize for challenging you.” Daichi bows lowly.

 

“Just so long as you don’t let it happen again.” Suga pretends to examine his nails, nose upturned in feigned self-importance.

 

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He smiles over at Suga, completely at ease. A silence folds around them, comfortable, and broken by Crow, who clearly wants to say hello.

 

“Can I?” Daichi asks.

 

“Your house, your rules,” Suga tells him. “You won’t see me stop you, though. It just so happens that I love animals.”

 

“Who, you?” His fingers find the latch to the cage and he lets Crow out. Crow, tail wagging at high velocity, immediately hurries over to Suga, pressing his wet nose into the hand he’s offered at sniffing.

 

“Daichiiii,” Suga whines, already pouting. “I’m going to have to go through the basics with you, aren’t I.”

 

“I’m a first-time dog owner, Suga, I don’t really know what I’m doing. Do you think I would have called you from my kitchen floor and mentioned that I was laying in pee if I didn’t need to be shown the ropes?”

 

“I had more hope in you than this, is all. Rule one: until he’s potty-trained, Crow needs to have a schedule. Every time he comes out of the crate, he immediately goes outside to use the bathroom. When he’s outside the crate he has to be somewhere you can see, so that you can monitor him. If he starts sniffing around, it’s usually a good sign that he needs to go out again.”

 

“Should I be taking notes?”

 

“You tell me! You’re the one who doesn’t know what they’re doing, after all.” Suga smirks and Daichi grimaces back at him.

 

“Don’t hold back there, Suga, jeez.” Daichi grabs Crow’s leash from the hook by the door and attaches it to the metal ring on his collar while Suga holds the dog still.

 

“Does he like treats?” Suga asks when they’re out in the yard. Daichi nods.

 

“He goes crazy for food.”

 

“Oh! Perfect. He shouldn’t be too hard for you to train, then. Lots of this is sort of like how you raise kids – reward good behavior, punish bad behavior, etcetera.” Crow snuffles around at the frozen grass in an area where the snow has melted already. “The difference is that dogs aren’t as smart as humans, and they can’t speak Japanese. When a dog does something bad, scientifically speaking, you have about 1.3 seconds to correct the behavior. You have the same amount of time to reward it as well. If you do something outside of that time frame, it won’t be effective, because the dog won’t ever learn to associate the consequence with the action.”

 

Crow struggles for a moment with lifting his leg, impeded by the fact that one of them is wrapped up tight, and finally settles on squatting. Daichi’s eyes are on Suga’s face, and Suga suddenly feels warm in spite of the cold. Crow steps forward, done with his business, and Suga fishes a hand into his pocket, pulling out a small treat.

 

“Good boy,” he says, laughing when Crow licks his hand, hoping for more. “Good potty.”

 

“Do you always have treats on you or something? Did they teach you that in vet school?” Daichi grins amusedly over at Suga.

 

“Hey! I came prepared! Besides,” Suga scratches Crow behind the ears, leveling Daichi a defensive glare, “you never know when you’re going to see a cute puppy on the street that you’re going to want to make friends with.”

 

“That’s a yes, isn’t it?”

 

“…Maybe for the ‘always carries treats’ part,” Suga reluctantly admits. “They didn’t teach me that in vet school, though!”

 

Daichi laughs, a deep sound that makes Suga’s heart swell achingly in his chest. It has him feeling overwhelmingly flustered, and he just _knows_ his cheeks have to be bright pink right now. At least he can pretend it’s because of the cold.

 

“Alright, Mr. Golden Showers, enough laughter at my expense! Back inside, it’s freezing out here!” Suga marches towards the steps, not bothering to double-check and see if Daichi is following. He’d better be, he thinks, and the sound of breathless chuckles and footsteps not far behind him confirms the theory.

 

Back inside, they spend the next two hours with Suga explaining basic dog psychology and training to Daichi. Daichi teases him endlessly for it, claiming he didn’t realize he had gone to the clinic of Dogmund Freud, and maybe Suga was going to start holding up ink-blot photos for Crow and ask him about his feelings.

 

Suga, blushing madly the whole time, threatens to teach Crow to pee in Daichi’s kitchen on command in retaliation. Crow is a frighteningly fast learner, eager to please, and Suga couldn’t be more proud of the progress they’ve made throughout the evening. The black-haired dog doesn’t really know his tricks yet, but Suga feels confident that they’ve laid a good foundation for Daichi to continue working on.

 

Suga sinks into the couch cushions, heaving a sigh, while Daichi puts Crow back into his crate.

 

“I think that went well,” he tells Daichi, brushing back the hair tickling his forehead.

 

“A raving review from the toughest sensei in the school!”

 

“Hey, I’m not tough!”

 

Daichi grins lazily over at him, tan skin catching the fading winter light that filters in through the windows. Suga’s breath gets caught in his throat, his heart beating faster than he thinks it has ever beat before in his life. He’s sure he’s blushing down to the roots of his silver hair.

 

“Ah, you’re right,” Daichi replies in a soft voice, pinning Suga with his gaze. “You’re the nicest teacher in the school, everyone’s favorite.”

 

“Your favorite, too?” Suga whispers, and he nearly kicks himself. He’s never been good at keeping his mouth shut when he gets like this, ruffled and off-kilter in a way that makes his filter vanish into mist. He doesn’t even know if Daichi likes men, for fuck’s sake! He scrambles to recover a shred of his dignity. “Because, um, I already have _one_ teacher’s pet, I don’t know if, if there’s room in my heart for two.”

 

Lame, lame, _SO LAME_ , he scolds himself internally. He wants to melt on the spot, and he sort of does when Daichi starts laughing out loud, leaning over to press his hands to his knees. Suga folds his own hands in his lap and twists them, feeling outrageously anxious. What if Daichi isn’t into dudes, what if he thinks Suga’s _gross_ , what if…

 

“…cute,” Daichi manages in a wheeze, leaning back up and wiping away a tear from the corner of his eye. “That was extremely cute.” The corners of his eyes crinkle up with a genuine warm smile, and every muscle in Suga’s body relaxes out of their tense state.

 

“I’ll have you know, I’m a very cute person,” Suga mumbles, not quite daring to believe that he’s going to get out of this one alive.

 

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Daichi says, still smiling wide. He holds out a hand, the good one. “C’mon, I promised you dinner, and I could use a cute sous chef at my side.”

 

Suga takes it and marvels again at the smooth skin, marked here and there by calluses. He remembers the feeling from patching Daichi up on the night they met, but again he’s struck by how warm Daichi is, and how his tan skin looks contrasted directly against Suga’s paleness like this. He’s drawn to his feet and, in an act of apparent boldness, Daichi doesn’t let go of his hand as he pulls him towards the kitchen.

 

Suga can see the blush on his neck and the urge to kiss the skin there sparks to life somewhere deep in his heart.

 

 _Don’t get ahead of yourself_ , he thinks, a quiet reminder.

 

Daichi pulls out two aprons from a drawer. He hands Suga the mint colored one with a conspiratorial grin, which Suga doesn’t quite understand until he reads the words embroidered on the front.

 

“Hot stuff coming through? Really, Daichi?”

 

“Hey, that apron is treasured property. An old friend bought it for me as a joke.”

 

“Well what does yours say, then?”

 

Daichi throws the apron over his neck and models it dramatically, hands on his hips. _I turn grills on_ is printed across the front in bold lettering. Suga snorts.

 

“Same friend?”

 

“What gave that away?”

 

“I think I want to meet this person, they have a great _taste_ in food puns.”

 

Daichi groans and shoves a cutting board towards Suga. “Not over my dead body,” he says, and Suga giggles as he sets the board down.

 

“So what should I get to work on?”

 

Daichi digs around in the fridge and pulls out a few vegetables, setting them on the counter in front of Suga.

 

“Are you okay with stir-fried noodles?” He asks, and after Suga nods his ascent, begins to dig around in his cabinets. “Just cut those thinly and evenly.”

 

“You sure lined me up with some difficult work here, Daichi,” he says as he begins to chop, careful of his fingers’ proximity to the sharp blade.

 

Daichi raises an eyebrow at him, fiddling around with other ingredients and the pan he has set out on the stove. “You remember that _I’m_ supposed to be making _you_ dinner, not the other way around, right? Am I going to have to take that knife away from you?”

 

Suga waves the knife in a faux-threatening manner, one hand on his hip. “I’d like to see you try.”

 

Daichi holds up his hands with a playful smile. “I could fire you for that, you know. What kind of sous chef threatens the cook?”

 

“The kind that you shouldn’t trifle with!”

 

They share a laugh. Soon enough, Suga’s got a neat pile of julienned carrots to dump into a bowl Daichi set aside for the vegetables.

 

“So, tell me more about yourself, Daichi,” Suga ventures, thinking about how he doesn’t know enough about the broad man beside him (and thinking that no matter how much he knows, it’ll never be enough. He’ll always want to know more). “What sort of job do you have?”

 

Daichi hmms once, dropping a bunch of uncooked noodles into the sauce in the pan, and wipes his hand down the front of his apron. Suga is silently tempted to do the same.

 

“It’s nothing too thrilling. I’m a manager of a division of marketing for an international company. Sounds impressive, but I’m barely above the bottom of the food chain there, and I mostly make sure my department gets its shit done and liaison with other people in the company who get paid a lot more than I do. It’s a lot of paperwork and ass-kissing and calling customers, and…” Daichi trails off, looking at Suga’s hands, which have stilled without Suga realizing it. “I’m boring you,” he says with a sigh and an apologetic smile that Suga just wants to kiss away. Instead, he shakes his head vigorously.

 

“No, you aren’t.” Suga’s eyes are full of concern when he regards Daichi, and he smiles back. “It just doesn’t sound like you’re happy doing that, is all.”

 

“Well. It’s not the _worst_ thing I could be doing, but I can’t say I enjoy it, exactly. It does pay the bills though, and I should probably be more thankful. But it does get exhausting, climbing the old corporate ladder.” He tips the slices of beef off of a plate and into the pan.

 

“Have you ever thought about leaving?”

 

Daichi laughs. “Only every single weekday!” He stirs the contents of the pan around with a pair of long chopsticks. “Not sure what else I’d do though. I used to want… well, that’s in the past, now.”

 

Suga knocks Daichi on the shoulder with a fist. “Oh no you don’t! Tell me!”

 

“It’s stupid, Suga,” Daichi says, blushing faintly.

 

“Telllll meeee!”

 

“Really, it is kind of childish.”

 

Suga squares his body towards Daichi, hands on his hips and face stern.

 

“I swear I won’t laugh.”

 

Daichi rubs his neck, looking sheepish. “I used to want to open up a bar.”

 

Suga’s eyebrows raise. “You? A bar?”

 

“Yeah. I know it’s a little lame, but growing up I used to set up a table in my room and have my siblings pretend to order drinks. It was all just make believe and water, but something about it stuck with me.”

 

“I picture you as more of a bouncer, with that body type, but a bartender… hmm…” Suga taps a pale finger against his lips, trying to picture it, Daichi wiping down a long counter, the wall behind him lined with different liquors, rolled up sleeves tight against his forearms and half an apron around his waist, chatting happily with customers. It nearly takes his breath away, how quickly the image solidifies in his mind.

 

“Suga?” Daichi asks, making Suga jump. They both laugh, and Suga turns away to finish up chopping the last of the vegetables.

 

“I was imagining it, is all.”

 

“What, me wrestling drunken men out the door, or my body type?” Daichi teases, and Suga blushes, tempted to stamp his foot on the kitchen floor at the indignity. He resists.

 

“ _No_ ,” ( _to the wrestling part, at least_ , Suga amends in his own head), “I was thinking about you bartending. The more I imagine it, the more I think it suits you.”

 

“Well, like I said, it was just an old dream of mine, anyways. That’s why I majored in business management, anyways. I even worked at a bar in college.” Daichi adds the vegetables into the pan.

 

“Did you really?”

 

“Yeah, god, the stories I could tell you. But mostly, it helped with the bills. I can’t imagine how you afforded as many years of schooling as you did.”

 

Suga recognizes the change in subject, and he wants to fight it, to ask more about Daichi. Why had he let go of his dream? What had changed? And how had Daichi felt about it? He doesn’t press, however, noting the barely-there strain weighing on Daichi’s expression.

 

“Eh,” he hesitates, because there’s a darkness there, within him. A burden from years and years ago that he doesn’t know if he’ll ever get off of his shoulders. He doesn’t want to bring it up now, not when the mood has already been a little dampened, so he sticks with the half of the truth that sounds good. “Scholarships, odd jobs, and I got very lucky landing a paid internship. That’s actually why I make sure to pay people like Yamaguchi. I know that kids in university don’t need to worry about money on top of every thing else.”

 

“Don’t we both know it?” Daichi asks, with a genuine grin this time.

 

“I’ve eaten enough cheap convenience store meals to last me a lifetime, in all honesty.”

 

Daichi flicks the heat off the stovetop and reaches up to grab plates out of the cabinet next to his head. Suga takes them out of his hands and sets them next to the stove while Daichi moves on to grab the utensils.

 

“What can I get you to drink? I’ve got water, beer, wine, I can make tea, coffee, plus I’ve got some soda.”

 

Suga smiles. The wine is tempting, and would guarantee him an hour’s worth of Daichi’s company while he sobers up, but he has a feeling that if he drinks any alcohol whatsoever, it will lead directly to poor decisions that definitely correlate with the way so wonderfully Daichi fills the clothes he’s wearing. He’s not sure how that’ll go over, so he decides he’d better not. “I’ll just stick with water.”

 

“Can do.”

 

Suga fills both of their plates and carries them to the table along with the utensils while Daichi grabs the drinks.

 

“Oh!” Daichi says, reaching behind his own back. “Forgot the aprons.”

 

Suga glances down at his front, and blinks. “Me too,” he admits. Daichi flips his over his head and folds it up while Suga struggles with the strings at his back. Just how tight did he tie this knot?

 

Apparently, very tight, and not even a minute later he looks up to see Daichi watching him struggle with raised eyebrows and an amused curl of his lips.

 

“Having trouble there, Suga?” he asks.

 

“No!” Suga says, defiant, but his attempts only last a bit longer before he concedes defeat. “Okay, yes. If I could just _see_ the damn thing...”

 

Daichi steps towards him. “Turn around,” he orders with a twirl of his finger. Suga swallows thickly, his mind suddenly on the many hypothetical situations in which Daichi is saying those words in a very different tone. Curse his libido.

 

It certainly does _not_ help that warm hands press against the fabric at the small of his back as Daichi takes a shot at undoing the too-tight knot. Suga does his best not to fidget, but his thoughts and heart are simply _flying_ at the touch. He just might die.

 

“Jesus, were you really so worried that it was going to fall off?” Daichi tugs at the strings, and Suga stumbles a step back, not expecting the pull. Oh, god. Maybe he shouldn’t take the apron off after all. If this keeps up, he’s going to want it on to hide his crotch.

 

 _Calm the fuck down, Koushi_ , he scolds himself, taking a deep breath before answering.

 

“I wasn’t paying attention! I’m used to tying knots in scrubs, and trust me, you do _not_ want those coming undone in the middle of a surgery, Daichi.”

 

Daichi laughs, the air tickling the hair at the back of Suga’s neck. “Alright, I’ll admit, that was a pretty smooth excuse. I’ll buy it.” The strings tug free and Suga uses the time it takes to fold it up to calm himself down further. “Next time, though, I’m tying the knot.”

 

Suga sets the fabric on the counter and scrunches his nose up at Daichi when he looks at him. His heart flutters at the implications of the statement: 1. Next time. 2. Daichi’s hands on his back again.

 

“If you insist,” he allows as he finally takes his seat across from Daichi.

 

Soon enough, they’re clapping their hands and giving thanks in unison, which makes Daichi smile across the table and Suga giggle.

 

They eat in silence for a few minutes (Suga has to remind himself to breathe in between bites, it’s so _good_ ) until Daichi breaks it again, setting his glass down on the table with a clink.

 

“So, I’m curious. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen so far as a vet? You’ve _had_ to have dealt with weirdos, right?”

 

Suga smirks. “Well, there was this one guy who hit a dog with his car and tried to pretend it was his dog…” He breaks into a laugh at the playfully insulted frown Daichi is shooting at him. “Okay, okay, I’ll answer for real this time. I once had a lady bring in her dog for an initial appointment, so she could get it fixed. Girl dog, cocker spaniel, really cute and friendly... I was going over the cost with her, and she looks up at me, with this scandalized look on her face, and starts yelling at me for trying to scam her. I ask her where in the world she got that idea from, and she points at the prices, and insists that I neuter her dog instead of spay it, because it’s cheaper.”

 

“She did _not_ ,” Daichi says, amused.

 

“She did!” Suga throws up an arm to express his exasperation. “She did, and I explained to her that you can’t neuter a female dog, and I swear to god, Daichi, I taught a complete stranger about the birds and the bees that day, but she wasn’t having any of it! She stormed out of my office yelling about all the reviews she was going to write, I thought, ‘ _This crazy ass lady is going to put me out of business_ ,’ because my practice had barely been established at that point, god.”

 

“And? Did she?”

 

“No. I got an apology in the mail a week later and she asked if she could come back. Apparently her daughter talked some sense into her.” Suga chuckles. “She still takes her dog to me, and now she believes every single word I say. It’s almost scary, like she’s my disciple. Somehow I got a loyal customer out of that debacle. An annoying one, but loyal!”

 

They spend the rest of the meal exchanging playful banter, talking about meaningless things, filling the room with a sense of warmth and domesticity. They argue over who’s going to do the dishes; Suga wants to do them all himself, but he settles on drying when Daichi points out that he doesn’t know where any of the cleaning supplies are anyways and promises to trade off next time. It feels like seconds later Suga’s pulling his shoes and coat on, wrapping himself up at the door and wanting nothing more than an excuse to stay longer.

 

“I guess I’ll head out, then,” Suga says, peeking his head back around Daichi, who’s opening the door, to look at Crow. “See you around, buddy!” he calls with a wave to the dog, who regards him sleepily without bothering to raise his head off his bed.

 

Daichi seems to shuffle on the threshold, not bothered by all the heat he’s letting out through the still-open door. Twice, he opens his mouth to say _something_ , but the words quite obviously stick in his throat. The third try is a success, paired with Daichi’s fingers wrapping around Suga’s hand.

 

“Thanks.” He swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing and that does _not_ do things to Suga, no sir. “For helping me so much, and for coming over, and. I had a really good time.”

 

Suga intertwines their fingers, lifting both hands up so that their palms are pressed together in the space between them. Daichi watches, completely transfixed by Suga’s movements.

 

“I had a really good time, too. We should do this again.”

 

Then, before he can talk himself out of it, he pulls their clasped hands towards his mouth, tilting them somewhat, and presses slightly parted lips against the back of Daichi’s hand.

 

He lets them drop, pulling away, and smiles, true, bright, and blushing.

 

“Bye, Daichi.”

 

“Bye, Suga.”

 

Suga gives Daichi (stunned, staring Daichi) one last fleeting grin, and turns on his heel, leaving. Because if he doesn’t walk away now, he probably never will.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HA HA HA slow burn what's slow burn i can't even last three chapters of my own fic without making my boys be gay!
> 
> i'm also going to bang a link to my twitter down here [@koushichu](https://twitter.com/koushichu) not because i'm thirsting for followers, but because if you like daisuga i really want to yell about it with you and i can't yell about it with you unless we're friends on the Social Medias! 
> 
> and lastly, a quick reminder to go find your favorite fanfic and leave a comment on it with some positive feedback, and/or share it, bc stories are like plants and feedback is like water, and i think fic authors on this site deserve all of the love <3


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